Inside Krasnodar | 2008

It’s kind of funny to be sitting here in Val D’Isere at an internet cafe listening to all the Russian tourists while back in Sochi the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics are just beginning. I wonder what will happen to the local economies of the French, Swiss, and Italian ski villages when Krasnaya Polyana and Rosa Khotur are developed enough to convicne the Russian skiing public that they might as well stay in Russia for their Winter vacations?

Here’s two articles detailing the newest developments around Sochi.

SOCHI, Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin opened a ski center Wednesday that will be used in the 2014 Winter Olympics, calling it a good start for the many construction projects needed for the Games.

“This is the first sign of the preparations of Sochi as host of the 2014 Winter Olympics,” Putin told jumpsuit-clad workers who built new ski lifts and other facilities at the at the complex in Krasnaya Polyana near Sochi, a Black Sea resort in southern Russia. “We still must put up a large quantity of sports facilities here at Krasnaya Polyana. I’m sure this will be done on schedule and with the same quality as this one.”

Putin rode a new gondola up the Psekhako Ridge, drank tea with 1994 Olympic super-G silver medallist Svetlana Gladysheva and mingled with young skiers.

Putin called the project, funded entirely by the state-controlled natural gas monopoly OAO Gazprom, “a pleasant gift not only for professionals but for the wider public - everyone who loves active leisure.”

The ski area on the Psekhako Ridge now consists of 18 trails and six lifts including the gondola, as well as accommodations for more than 8,000 people, said Vladimir Makarenkov, deputy director of a Gazprom affiliate involved in the construction.

“That’s just the start,” Makarenkov said on NTV television. A ski stadium and other facilities, including more trails and lifts, are to be built on the site, he said.

Cross-country and biathlon events will take place at Psekhako Ridge, while alpine ski events are to be held at a separate area called Rosa Khutor, which is under construction.

Putin said that for Russia to produce as many champion athletes as possible, “it’s necessary to learn to build such sports centers and maintain them properly.”

Construction of the new facilities at Psekhako Ridge started in 2002 and much of what has been built was completed in late 2006, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Sochi was awarded the games in July, defeating Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria, in a vote of the International Olympic Committee.

and

SOCHI. Jan 2 (Interfax) - The opening of a tourism center at the Krasnaya Polyana mountain resort marks the beginning of preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics, President Vladimir Putin has said.

The new complex “will offer real competitive advantages over foreign ski resorts,” Putin said while dedicating the new center.

“It is a quality project, built in line with the schedule, with all environmental requirements observed, which is most important,” he said.

Putin thanked the project investor, Gazprom (RTS:GAZP.) “Brilliant sports results are something a sportsman achieves on his own. But if such achievements are to become common, we must learn to build and maintain such sports centers,” he said.

“The new tourism center is a gift to professional athletes and to the general public. And, most important, it is a great contribution to the promotion of children’s sport in this country,” the president said.

“Krasnaya Polyana provides vivid proof that we here in Russia are capable of accomplishing projects of such scope,” Putin said.